Page 82 of Bullseye
“Ithaunts you daily?” Stepping closer to me, her face becomes redder as she uses a finger to poke me in the chest. “Ithaunts you daily?”Storming away to the opposite side of the room, she turns and rushes back. “What the fuck, Avery? My brother is sitting in jail—rotting away—God knows what is happening to him, and you… you could have saved him?”
“It’s not like anyone asked or gave me the opportunity, Sen. I was working for Don Bordono.”
“Fuck this! When will you ever take responsibility, Avery? You fucking child! You could have made all the difference.”
Before I realize what’s happening, she comes at me and swipes my feet out from under me, dropping me onto my back. Jumping on top of me, she straddles me and pummels me with her fists against my chest.
Over and over she beats me. It hurts, but I know she doesn’t mean to do any serious damage or she would go after my eyes or groin… she’s just venting. Keeping my elbows bent and my arms parallel to my body to protect myself, I let her beat me until she’s exhausted.
Falling off of me and onto her hip, she lands on the side of me. Daring to lift my hand, I reach out to brush a hair back from her cheek, but she yanks her head away.
“Seneca.”
Climbing up to my feet, I put a hand out to her to help her up, but she stays still, just looking away.
“Sen, baby. I know you hate me right now, and I know you don’t want to hear this, but all I want is for you to be safe, and you’re as safe here—with Ironclad—as possible. He won’t do anything to you while I’m doing a job for him.”
She doesn’t answer, she only stares at the ground. Her silence and disappointment are so much worse than when she was beating me.
“I know you’re pissed.”
She glares at me.
“Okay, you’re more than pissed, and you have a right to be. But we have one goal here. Let’s stay alive so I can get you back to Hoppa where you will be safe. You can be pissed there. And we’ll figure something out with your brother.”
Looking away again, her chest heaves with anger.
“I’m going to go, Seneca.” Backing away from her like she’s a hungry lioness, I make my way to the door. Reaching out behind me and putting my hand on the door handle, I open the door. “I will be back for you. I promise.”
Glancing up at me one more time, she snarls, and I catch her finger twitching. She’s coming for me.
“Seneca.”
“Fuck you, Avery!”
With a growl, she charges at me just as I step into the hallway and slam the door shut behind me. Like a wild animal trapped in a cage, she lands hard against the door.
Slamming her hand against it, I know that serves as her solemn pledge to get even for everything I’ve done. And that means, while I spend the next couple of hours figuring out how to fool Ironclad into thinking Don Bordono is dead even when he’s not…
Seneca Villetrio, the woman I’ve risked everything to save, will be planning my brutal demise.
Chapter Twenty
Wildfire
“Fucking Avery Pairings…” I’m like a bull seeing red. “Who the hell does he think he is?”
Mumbling like a madwoman, I peel myself off of the door and storm around Ironclad’s office. My boots clump against the uncarpeted floor, creating a noise that sounds like it’s made by a much bigger, taller me. And that bigger, taller me—she’s as pissed as I am. Back and forth, with no particular destination in mind, I move in a circle from Ironclad’s desk to his door.
“How could I have been so stupid?” I mumble, trying to work this out. Slowing, I begin to rationalize. “But how could I have known?” I went after Avery. He didn’t even nominate me for the Steel Knights and truthfully, I do believe that he had no idea of who I was and what was happening in my life until he spoke with my mother.
But, that doesn’t matter. You don’t help people just because you know them. You don’t do what’s right just because you’re going to get caught. He should have stepped up for Matt all of those years ago.
Fuck you, Avery.
And why has he been chasing me? All the way from Arizona to New York? He must have been trying to keep me safe from Mikey and Tony, just like I was trying to keep him safe from the very same people.
How freaking ironic.
